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Keeping pests where they belong

Published September 1, 2008

People take a resort vacation for a little R&R and to escape from their daily life. One of the last things they want disrupting their relaxation is a pesky critter greeting them in their bed, at dinner or while they’re lounging at the pool.

Word of a single pest sighting can quickly spread beyond your resort to the online world when a guest writes an unsatisfactory hotel review, leaving a permanent reminder of the sighting and damaging your establishment’s reputation. The good news is you can help prevent bad reviews through simple maintenance. These practices, along with a comprehensive Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program, will put pests in their place – outside where they belong.

IPM is a proactive, environmentally friendly pest management approach that emphasizes non-chemical prevention and control methods to help eliminate pests before they enter your hotel or resort. That way, you can keep your establishment’s interior clean and pest-free – and won’t have to worry about the potential negative impact of having pests appear in your hotel.

Work with your pest management professional to incorporate the following exterior maintenance tips into your regular routine.

Lighting

• Place fluorescent lights at least 100 feet away from the building, so night-flying insects will move away from, not toward, your building. For light fixtures affixed to the building, change the bulbs to sodium vapor lights, which are less attractive to insects.

• Trim back tree branches and shrubbery, so they are at least two feet away from the façade. This prevents pests from working their way inside – sometimes over the “bridge” of vegetation touching the building. Install a three-foot wide gravel strip around the base of the building to discourage pests from approaching the area. Rodents don’t like to be out in the open and will usually stay clear of the gravel barrier, which also creates a “mountainous” terrain for many small crawling insects to traverse.

• Regularly inspect all of your buildings’ exteriors for cracks and crevices, especially around utilities and on roofs. Immediately seal any openings with a weather-resistant sealant. Rodents don’t need much room to squeeze inside – a mouse only needs a dime-sized hole, and a rat can fit into a hole the size of a quarter. Incorporating copper and/or steel mesh into the sealant will create a second barrier to entry for rodents that try to gnaw through it.

• Install automatic doors at your establishment’s front entrances to ensure they remain closed when not in use. You don’t want pests making their way inside with your guests. Also, in high traffic areas, such as shipment loading docks, install door sweeps and create a positive airflow (i.e. air flows out, not into the building) to push pests out the door. Create air curtains by installing fans on either side of the door that blow toward each other – small flying insects will be unable to cross the air current.

• Invest in #16 mesh screens for all windows to block access for the smallest pests, and install weather stripping to minimize gaps around doors and windows. Cockroaches only need an opening 1/16 inch wide to get inside your establishment as they search for shelter, food and water.